Author: Tee (NY)
I am currently having a problem with all of the faucets in my entire house including the tub, shower, and toilets. They smell like cat urine. It is only in the cold water. If I run the water for a few minutes the smell goes away, but when I turn it on again in five minutes the smell is back. I have had my water tested and there's no problem with it. My plumber is dumbfounded. This started when I replaced my hot water greater 2 months ago. I am desperate and at my wits end. Please help! Thank you.

Take a glass of cold water from a lavatory faucet or kitchen faucet outside and smell it there, or let someone else smell it, then try running water at the sink. Is it the water, or the drain? Since the water has been tested, my initial suspicion is the drains are the issue, or moisture is wetting bacteria and mold in the drains and that is the odor.

i can tell you 100000% it is not coming from the water heater.
did the sample you took to have tested smell?

No, the sample does not have a smell. In fact when I pour the water into a glass it does not have a smell after sitting for a minute.

But it is also in the toilet water tank and in the toilet bowl water. When I run the hot water from the faucets it does not smell. When I switch to cold water, the smell comes out. If I run the cold water for about 3 minutes, it goes away, but when I turn it off and turn it back on 5 minutes later, the smell is there again.

Municipal water? If so, contact the water company, and find out if they are treating the water with ammonia.



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No ammonia. They only treat the water with chlorine. Yes, municipal water.

My only other guess would be that it could be flux in the water lines that didn't wash out if the plumber used soldered connections to the cold water line that is feeding the heater. The hot water tank probably flushed the lines clean with the high temperature water, but the cold lines still have some in the pipes. That is just speculation however. If it is the case, there isn't an easy fix that I know of short of using copious amounts of water and eroding way any remaining flux.

Talk to your neighbors. See if they also notice the issue.

Okay, the plumber is coming back this week. I will mention flux. Also, none of my neighbors are experiencing this smell in their water. Ugh. So frustrating!!! Thank you all for your input. Please, all suggestions are welcome!'



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unless the plumber has an old container of flux, pretty much all the flux we use is water soluable and would not smell.

Apology in advance for this being of no help to you. I just wanted to say: I am not experiencing a smell but fear I will be. For five years I've lived in my 30 year old house in a rural area, and have noticed that in the past couple of years a reddish color has started growing in my pets' water dishes. I've seen it in the toilet too. Obvious germs! It forces me to soak the bowls in bleach to kill the bugs. You guessed it--no chlorine added by county in my area. I can just imagine the insides of all the plumbing in my house (and my body?) is the same disgusting red! I have pretty much gone to drinking water out of bottles.

[www.ag.ndsu.edu]

Hi. Did you ever get a resolution?
I live in Georgia and I am now having the same exact problem.
The water company thinks I've lost my mind.
Water is clear.. no odors. It's driving me crazy

Some utilities (about 0.1%) add chlorine dioxide to water which is not water soluble so when people open their faucets it fills the surroundings which reacts with chemicals in new carpets and causes the smell. Info came from popular Science magazine Feb 6, 2017. My guess its the ammonia in the carpet that mixes with the chlorine.



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I also live in GA and have just recently started having the same problem but only with our HOT water. Again, it goes away after a few minutes and is consistent throughout the entire house with hot water only. We haven't had any changes to our hot water heater (it is tankless) but after thinking about it, we did recently install new countertops and they disconnected and reconnected our kitchen sink. Perhaps I'll check into the flux situation and see if perhaps that is the cause. I'm open to ideas. It is a horrible smell like a VERY DIRTY litterbox.